Roamin' Ryoga
by Rannchan
Summary: At 35, Ryoga hasn't done much with his life. A fact that's starting to weigh on him... Until one Nabiki Tendo decides to pull the lost boy into the 21st century.
1. Chapter 1

R oamin' Ryoga – Chapter 1

I've been re-watching Ranma ½ with a friend of mine and we've been talking about fanfictions we read back in the day. We used to read A LOT of Ranma ½ fanfiction. So, while at work, this idea came to me. I hope I can do it justice.

I don't own Ranma 1/2, or any other properties, songs, movies, or people mentioned in this story. Any resemblance to real people, or events are entirely coincidental. With one exception, Matt and Mattingly's Ice Cream Social is used with permission, though they have no say in what I have them do in the story.

'Here I am again.'

Ryoga Hibiki looked up and found himself at what used to be the Tendo Dojo. It had been renamed to the Saotome/Tendo Dojo for some time now.

'I guess I should stop in and say Hi.'

With that thought, Ryoga stepped towards the gate and walks in. Before he can get to the door he hears someone scream, "UNCLE P-CHAN!" The next thing he knows, he sees a blur of bright red. Aa young girl of about 5 runs up to Ryoga and hugs onto his leg as hard as she could, her hair as bright and vibrant as her father's… well, as her father's curse..

Ryoga smiles as he looks down and he gently says, "Didn't I ask you to call me Uncle Ryoga?"

"UNCLE P-CHAN! UNCLE P-CHAN! UNCLE P-CHAN IS HERE!" The small child continues to scream loudly with the biggest smile on her face.

From the door of the house, a familiar face came out. Older, but still the same Akane that Ryoga had fallen in love with so long ago. His heart gave a dull ache. After all this time, her approval was still super important to him.

"Ryoga? It is you! How've you been? Come inside, I'll make some tea." Akane smiled gently and motioned for Ryoga to come inside.

Ryoga tried to walk inside but realized that Momoko was still wrapped around his leg. "Momo-chan, I need to go inside."

"Take me with you uncle p-chan!"

Sighing, Ryoga clumsily walked with a child wrapped around his leg. Once inside, Momoko let go and went to grab something from her room.

Ryoga sat at the old table, in a room he had helped destroy many times. Things have been quiet for years. Ever since Ranma and Akane got married some 15 years previous. There were still loose ends at the beginning, but by the time they were expecting their first child, things pretty much resolved themselves. No one wanted to break up a family.

Akane brought in a pot of hot water, some tea cups, and some tea leaves. She may not be a great cook, but she learned a few things like how to make tea. She pours a few cups and says, "I'm so glad to see you! Momoko always loves it when you come by. I'm sure Ranma and Masaru would love to see you when they get back. How've you been?" She smiles and passes him one of the tea cups.

Ryoga gratefully takes the cup and blows on it just a bit before taking a sip of the tea. "Same old, same old for me. Wandering around with no real home or purpose." His demeanor started to go south, but before he could get too sad, Momoko came running down the stairs clutching a stuffed animal.

"Uncle P-chan! Uncle P-chan! Daddy made me this!" She thrust the stuffed toy in Ryoga's hands.

Ryoga looked at it in shock. Ranma had somehow made a stuffed P-chan. It was surprisingly well made and even the right size. He looked at the expectant face of Momoko, she seemed to be waiting for a reaction. "This is very nice! But it seems to be missing something isn't it?" Ryoga takes one of his many bandanas off ties it around the neck of the stuffed toy. "Now it's like I'm always here with you."

Momoko's eyes went wide and glittered with delight. She hugged the stuffed toy as hard as she could, and then did the same to Ryoga.

Ryoga looked up at Akane and for a moment, and thought he saw a pang of anger behind her eyes for just a moment as she looked at the stuffed animal. He blinked and she was back to all smiles. Just maybe she hadn't completely forgiven him?

"Alright Momo-chan, I think Uncle Ryoga would like to drink his tea. Why don't you go clean your room?" Akane looked at her daughter with a gentle look she probably learned from Kasumi.

Momoko looked sad for a moment, but gave in. "Alright mommy!" She took her new favorite thing, and ran upstairs, more likely to play with her stuffed animals than clean… but as long as she wasn't interrupting the adults.

Both adults watch her go upstairs and Ryoga breaks the silence. "She's growing up fast."

"Yeah. They do, don't they? I'm sorry again that Ranma taught her 'Uncle P-chan'."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure she'll grow out of it. Where's Ranma and Masaru?" Ryoga took another sip of tea.

Akane looked over at a clock. "They went to the Nekohanten for a training session with Cologne. They should be back soon though. I wish they would have waited longer before teaching him those Amazonian techniques, but they thought that teenager was appropriate. He's only 14 Ryoga!"

Ryoga thought about how Ranma and himself had done training with Cologne at only 16 and smiled. "He'll be fine Akane. I'm sure they aren't going to be nearly as intense as when Ranma was trained by her. Or myself."

"I suppose you're right." As Akane went to take another sip from her tea, the sound of a bell went off. Akane put down her tea and reached in her pocket. She took out a small flat plastic rectangle. She looked at one side of it that was glowing. "Ah! They're on their way home! I should start the rice so Ranma can cook when he gets here."

Ryoga looked quizzically at Akane, and the plastic rectangle she was holding. "What is that?"

Akane looked up a Ryoga and back to her phone. "This is my cell phone. Nabiki bought one for me and Ranma. She pays the bill too. It helps us keep in contact, even if Ranma is out training."

Ryoga had vaguely heard of cell phones during some of his travels, but he had mostly seen small phones that flipped closed. You could make phone calls but that was about it.

Akane got up to go to the kitchen and a thought hit her, "Speaking of Nabiki, she asked me to call her when you came by. She wanted to talk with to you."

"With me? Why me?" Ryoga was really confused. He had never really had more than an acquaintance-like relationship with the middle Tendo daughter.

"I dunno. Why don't you stay for dinner? You can catch up with Ranma and Masaru, I can call Nabiki and we'll figure it out together!" Akane was measuring rice for the large rice cooker while inviting Ryoga to dinner.

"I'd love to stay. This is the closest I have to home anyway." Ryoga chuckled at that last remark, even if deep down, his heart panged with a bit of sadness.

About half an hour later, Ryoga was unpacking gifts from his backpack for the Saotome family while regaling Akane and Momoko with the stories of where he got each of the gifts. From the front hall, a pair of voices was growing louder.

"I almost had it! Couldn't we have stayed longer so I could get it?"

"No, your mother is waiting for us for dinner. To keep training with Cologne, we need to come home on time."

Ryoga looked up and saw where the voices were coming from. Ranma was walking around the corner into the room with a shorter boy next to him. Masaru was the spitting image of his father, except his hair was a dark blue like his mother's. You could tell they had both been training as they were covered in sweat. Maybe… a little too much?

"Masaru! Why are you all wet?" Akane had noticed that the younger Saotome was covered in more water than just sweat would have produced.

"Mom! They were teaching me the chestnut fist! I almost had it, but dad made us leave and come home." The young teen was more than excited to talk about what he had been learning, but seemed a little miffed about having to leave.

"Hey! I told you we had to get home! And don't worry Akane, we didn't use fire like I did… We used goldfish in a tank like I ended up doing. Much safer." Ranma was trying to get in before Akane could protest putting their son's hands in a fire.

From across the room, Ryoga scoffed a little, and said, "At least you aren't hurling boulders at your kid like she did to me!"

At that, Ranma looked up and noticed his old friend. "Ryoga! When did you get here?"

Momoko responded first with, "Uncle P-chan got here today!"

Ryoga gave a small wince at being called Uncle P-chan again… "I've been here about an hour or so. Akane invited me to stay for dinner."

Ranma smiled and grabbed Ryoga's forearm for a manly handshake. Ryoga followed suit. "Of course man! Let me take a quick bath and I'll start dinner." Ranma let go and went to the bath.

Akane looked at her son who had just sat down at the table, still wet from training. "Oh no you don't. You have to take a bath before dinner too! You can take one with your father, or after he's done, but you still have to take one."

"I will mom, sheesh." Masaru rolled his eyes. He seems to have gotten to that age.

"You better! Auntie Kasumi and Uncle Tofu are coming by tonight!" Akane was always a little more uptight about baths and cleanliness when her sister and Doctor Tofu were coming over. They came for dinner about once a week. Even after all this time, Akane still had a bad habit of comparing herself to her sister. Kasumi was just so at ease with home life and being a mother. She was practically a mother to her and her sister for so long anyway…

Ryoga looked up. "You didn't say Kasumi and Tofu were coming. I don't want to intrude on a family dinner…" Ryoga started to get up to leave but Akane waved him down.

"No no no… Don't worry about it! You're family to us anyway. I'm sure they would love to see you!" Akane sounded reassuring.

An hour had passed. Ranma was in the kitchen finishing up dinner, and despite some arguing from Masaru, he was bathed and dressed in a fresh set of clothes. Voices could be heard from the entrance.

"Akane! Ranma! We're here!"

The sweet sound of Kasumi's voice flitted into the room. She walked right into the home carrying a baby. Doctor Tofu came in behind her holding the hands of two young boys of about 8. A teen girl following the both of them. Kasumi was older, but still looked quite youthful. Doctor Tofu was becoming noticeably greyer, with some distinct lines around his eyes.

Ryoga looked at the arriving family, his eyes widening just a touch. "When did you guys have another kid?"

Kasumi and Tofu both looked over to Ryoga.

"Oh Ryoga! I haven't seen you in quite some time! Little Eri was just born 6 months ago. I guess you never got the letter." Kasumi tilted her head slightly and a small frown appeared on her face for just a moment.

A small derisive snort could be heard from the back of the room. "Of course he never got the letter. He's never in any one place for long… and doesn't use e-mail."

"Reiko! What have I said about that attitude young lady?!" Tofu was visibly scowling at the teen.

Reiko exaggeratedly rolled her eyes and pulled out her cell phone. "I told you dad, I want to be called Rei. Reiko is SUCH a kids name…" She started typing quickly and went back to ignoring the room.

Ryoga had blushed just a little in embarrassment at Reiko's comment. He was always out of the loop. He never knew what was going on in the lives of his friends. Reiko had never much cared for him after he missed some of her life events young in life… birthdays…. Dance recitals… She had latched onto him as her favorite uncle for her youngest years and now Ryoga's lost that trust…. That friendship.

Most of the room was settling into their seats, Tofu trying to wrangle the twins to sit, which was almost a futile battle. Ranma started to bring the food into the room when he noticed the level of ki had risen in the room. Not a dangerous amount… but a noticeable one. Looking over, there was a subtle green tint around Ryoga. After putting down the food, and trying not to draw any attention that anything was wrong, he patted Ryoga on the back and smiled. "Hey buddy! Ready for some fresh home-cooked dinner?"

Snapped out of his internal thoughts, the green aura quickly dissipated. Ryoga saw the look in his old friend's face and realized what had happened. With a smaller voice than normal, Ryoga replied, "Sorry… yeah. That sounds… nice." Ryoga forced a small reassuring smile onto his face. Coming to see the Saotomes was always a double edged sword for Ryoga. Seeing old friends is comforting. Having something be a constant in a life where everything is always changing was nice… but seeing everyone have happy families, seeing all their kids growing up and never getting updates on their lives… It's depressing when you dwell on it.

The rest of dinner was uneventful by Saotome/Tendo standards. No one destroyed any walls, only one person got splashed with cold water (Ranma, of course) and everyone seemed to eat to their hearts content. No fighting over the koi pond for the last piece of anything. Now that dinner had finished, the Tofu twins, Daisuke and Hideki were running around the backyard playing hide and seek with Momoko. Tofu was keeping an eye on them. Kasumi and Akane were taking all the dishes to the kitchen for cleaning. After -all, that was Ranma and Akane's agreement. Ranma would cook and Akane would clean up. With the added stipulation, that if Akane cooked a meal, Ranma would clean if he was physically capable of it. Kasumi had just insisted on helping, and Akane could never persuade her otherwise. The two teens were in a corner laughing at something on Reiko's phone. Then at something on Masaru's phone. They just kept swapping back and forth. Ryoga was feeling out of place for a bit. Akane had refused his help to wash the dishes and now he was just sitting there. Just then, Ranma emerged from the bathroom, toweling off his hair.

"I must take the most showers in the world." Ranma joked to Ryoga as he sat next to his old friend.

"At least you have that option." Ryoga joked back and gave a light punch to Ranma's arm while smirking.

"Yeah, yeah! I know. How've you been holding up?"

Ryoga sighed and looked down. He thought for a moment then looked at the sky. It had gotten dark during dinner, and the stars were starting to appear in the sky. "Honestly…. Not great. It's a little disheartening to be 35 and still single. Still with no real job… no real home… Just… wandering forever. Every time I come here and see you… your family… Kasumi's family… it reminds me of what I can never truly have…"

Ranma didn't quite know how to respond. Knowing about Ryoga's…. condition… there really wasn't a way to help the man. They sat in silence for a few minutes looking up at the stars. Their quite reverie was interrupted by Akane.

"Hey Ryoga, I called Nabiki. She wants to see you but is busy tonight. She wanted to know if you were free tomorrow around lunch-time?"

Both Ranma and Ryoga looked up at Akane. Ryoga had a quizzical look on his face.

"I have no plans, but how will I find her that quickly?"

"I told her you would stay here with us tonight. She'll send a car to pick you up tomorrow and take you to meet her." Akane smiled and walked back into the house before Ryoga could protest about intruding on their house for the night.

Ranma looked at Ryoga. "Why does Nabiki want to see you so badly?"

Ryoga looked back to the stars and replied, "I have no idea."

A/N – Here's the introduction! Chapter 1. It ended up longer than I anticipated but I really wanted to build the world they were living in. This story is mostly going to explore a possible scenario for the Ranma world. Ryoga going around and running into people he knew as a teenager. What may have happened with everyone once all the craziness calmed down. I'm mostly just writing this for myself, but if you like it, I'd like to know that too. =)


	2. Chapter 2

Roamin' Ryoga – Chapter 2

I've been re-watching Ranma ½ with a friend of mine and we've been talking about fanfictions we read back in the day. We used to read A LOT of Ranma ½ fanfiction. So, while at work, this idea came to me. I hope I can do it justice.

I don't own Ranma 1/2, or any other properties, songs, movies, or people mentioned in this story. Any resemblance to real people, or events are entirely coincidental.

Ryoga woke up in a very familiar room. Remembering last night, Ryoga let out a sigh. It was a lovely dinner, and everyone was great… but soon, he would be gone again. Probably wouldn't see them for months.

He got up, noticing that his pack must still be downstairs. 'Dammit, now I have to find my way downstairs just to change clothes…'

Ryoga left the room to find downstairs. It took him about 20 min. Not too bad if he did say so himself. Walking into the main room, he had to keep himself from bursting into laughter. Ranma was sitting down, as a girl, with his daughter giving him a make-over. There was lipstick over half of his face, and red hair pulled into about 4 ponytails and at least 2 braids. Ranma was gently trying to ask Momoko if she was almost done. A patient father as always, he seemed to be hitting the end of his rope.

Ryoga sauntered into the room with a very wide smile on his face.

"Hey Ranma, you've never looked better." Ryoga was suppressing a lot of laughter at the moment.

"Uncle P-chan! Isn't daddy pretty?" Momoko seemed very proud of her work.

"Daddy is very pretty! But don't you think he would look even prettier in a dress?" Ryoga was reveling in Ranma's discomfort as he made the suggestion in a sing-song voice. Ranma glared at Ryoga.

Momoko's eyes grew even wider and she got really excited. "I'll ask mommy for a dress for daddy!" She ran off to find Akane.

Once he was sure Momoko was out of range, Ranma glared hard at Ryoga who had just burst into laughter. "I hate you so much right now."

Through the laughter, Ryoga managed to ask, "Why is she giving you the make-over and not Akane?"

Ranma crossed his arms under his ample chest and said, "My hair is longer… and she likes that it's the same color as hers…" His female side hasn't seemed to age a day. Ranma still looked 16, and Ryoga suspected he would always look 16 in his cursed form.

Ryoga calmed down and grabbed his backpack from the corner of the room.

"You're not leaving already, are you? I thought Nabiki was picking you up around lunch-time?" Ranma asked quizzically.

"Yeah, but I need to take a bath and change clothes don't I? I may not have nice clothes to see her with, but I can at least be clean." Ryoga started walking towards what he thought was the bathroom. He opened a broom closet. "Ummm…. Ranma?"

"If you promise to never laugh at what Momo-chan dresses me in, I'll take you to the bathroom." Ranma looked at Ryoga with a serious look in his eyes. It was a little hard to take seriously with the bad lipstick and hair, but Ryoga agreed.

Ryoga had just finished a bath and put on his best set of clothes. Nothing fancy, but also not frayed around the edges. Might as well dress nice for arguably the most successful Tendo sister. Once he found the door to leave the bathroom, he found that Ranma was standing outside the door. Cleaned up and male again.

"Ready for breakfast?"

"What happened to Momo-chan's make-over?" Ryoga had a snide smile on his face as he looked at Ranma.

"Akane told her not to dress up daddy while we had company. Now, never bring it up again." Ranma sounded like the last part was not a request, and started walking towards the dining room.

Ryoga quickly grabbed his backpack and started following Ranma. "Hey, wait for me!"

Following Ranma got Ryoga to the breakfast table in record time. Ranma and himself both sat at the table and Akane passed them both bowls of rice. Masaru was eating quickly and in mass quantities. He really was his father's son. Akane was helping Momoko master her beginner's chopsticks to eat a pickle off her rice bowl. Ryoga noticed that the stuffed P-chan had found its way to the table next to Momoko. Ryoga smiled at the girl. She really was growing so fast. She could hardly talk the last time he saw her.

Half-way through breakfast, Akane looked over to Ryoga and asked, "Hey, what are your plans after you leave? Anywhere you plan on going?"

Momoko looked horrified at her mother. "Uncle P-chan isn't leaving again is he?" She turned to Ryoga and gave him the biggest, saddest puppy-dog eyes and the cutest pout to match.

The look hurt Ryoga to the core, but before he could respond, Ranma pitched in. "Hey now Momo-chan! Uncle P-chan can't stay here forever. Adults need to live their own lives. But he'll be back. He always comes back eventually."

Ryoga was glad that Ranma defended his leaving to the young child. She didn't yet understand why he could never stay for long. Looking right at Momoko, Ryoga calmly added in with a gentle smile, "I'll always come back to see you. You'll never know when, but I'll always come back." Momoko seemed to calm down a bit. Then Ryoga reached across the table and grabbed the stuffed pig, handing it to Momoko. "Plus, you'll always have a little bit of Uncle P-chan right here. Although, I would still like it better if you called me Uncle Ryoga."

At being handed her favorite thing in the world, Momoko smiled widely and hugged the stuffed pig as hard as she could.

Ryoga gave a small smile at the child and turned to Akane. "I don't have any real plans right now. Since I'm not out for revenge anymore, I'm really not sure what to do…. But anytime I try to make a plan, it never works out anyway. I might as well keep doing what I have been."

"What have you been doing? Still camping in the woods a lot?" Ranma was trying to grab the last fish from the middle of the table when his and Masaru's chopsticks met. Father and son glared at each other for a moment, as if a fight over the last fish was about to break out. Ranma slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let go of the fish. Masaru ate it with no remorse.

"Yeah, been camping a lot. Why'd you let Masaru get that last fish?"

"My first instinct was to fight him for it. But I think back to Pops and I don't want to do anything he did. I want to be a better father than that. I can always cook another fish if I need to. There's no reason to fight over food." Ranma finished his rice bowl and turned back to Ryoga. "Just living in the woods then?"

"Nah, I get offered places to sleep occasionally. I still need money for food and supplies sometimes. When I'm in small towns, I tend to do bits of work to help them out, and I get offered food, shelter for the night and a bit of money to keep me going. I'll break boulders, help dig up fields for crops… a lot of manual labor mostly." Ryoga finished his rice bowl and set it down. "Thanks for breakfast."

Akane gathered the empty bowls, "Oh, you're always welcome here. Drop by anytime. Sounds like you've been doing some nice honest work."

"Yeah, it's a nice way to get by. I meet some real nice people, see some nice towns, and I always end up here in the end." Ryoga was in a pretty good mood. This was the life. The life he wished he could have all the time…

There was still a few hours until Nabiki was supposed to get Ryoga, and being the weekend, Masaru didn't have school. So Ranma thought it a good idea for Ryoga and Masaru to spar. Ranma watched as they sparred in the yard. He wanted to minimize the property damage, now that he was responsible for the upkeep to the home. Ranma watched as Ryoga held back most of his strength… but was forced to use his full speed. Speed was never Ryoga's strong suit…

Masaru and Ryoga were sharing blows back and forth, Masaru trying to keep his distance, and Ryoga trying to get into a grapple. The conflicting styles made for a very intense practice bout. After what seemed like a long time, a voice could be heard from the house, "Ryoga! I just got a call from Nabiki and you should be ready to go soon!"

At the sound of Akane's voice, Ryoga looked towards the house, distracted. Masaru took the opening and gave Ryoga a final kick… into the koi pond.

Loud squealing could be heard from the pond as a small black pig was struggling to get out of the water. Ranma sighed and scooped up the struggling pig. "You shouldn't get distracted, even in a practice match." He turned to Masaru, "You did a good job keeping up with Uncle Ryoga, but what did I say about the koi pond?"

Masaru was smiling smugly but tried to look a little sheepish when he responded, "Don't take advantage of a Jusyenkyo curse in a fight unless it's a REAL fight."

Ranma nodded his head at his son, and looked back at the struggling pig he was holding. "Stop struggling Ryoga! I'll run you a bath so you'll be ready." He started walking back to the house but stopped to look over his shoulder at Masaru. "Hey, Masaru! Can you gather his clothes from the pond and wring the water out? We should try to get them as dry as possible before Uncle Ryoga leaves."

Masaru made a face as if he was gonna make a response… but thought better of it and started gathering Ryoga's clothes from the pond.

"And there ya go!" Ranma tossed the pig into a nice hot bath that he had just drawn. Ryoga's muscular form emerged from the water, coughing out the water that had gone down his throat.

"You didn't have to toss me in! I could have jumped in myself." Ryoga settled into the water giving a side-eye to Ranma.

Ranma gave a laugh. "It just reminded me of when we were young. I'd have to save your bacon anytime your secret was about to get out." Ranma gave a large grin.

Ryoga hung his head and sank deeper into the water. "Could you please leave? I'd like to finish this bath alone."

Ranma's smile faded and he looked at the solemn Ryoga for a moment, before muttering, "Sure man." And turning to leave. He paused in the doorway. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything you went through because of me. You're always welcome here… anytime you're in the neighborhood." Ranma left the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Ryoga was now alone in the bath, knowing he'd have to be ready to leave soon. People liked to think about 'The good-old days' but…. Were they ever really good? They were important, sure – but he would never describe them as 'good'.

Drying his hair, Ryoga saw that Ranma had left his whole pack in the bathroom dressing room. His best outfit was out of the question now, but he was sure he had something that wasn't frayed to death. "Guess I'm wearing long sleeves today." He stated to himself as he brought out a long sleeved shirt and long pants. The pants had his classic crisscross ties at the calves and the shirt had some solid bracers on the forearms. It's was the only thing left without frayed edges.

Coming out of the bath with his backpack, Masaru was waiting by the door with his arms crossed, looking like he didn't want to be standing there. He was holding a small bag. Seeing Ryoga, Masaru gave an exasperated sigh, rolled his eyes just a bit and turned to Ryoga. He bowed and said, "I'm sorry for kicking you into the pond and getting your clothes wet." And under his breath adding, "even though you were wide open…" He stood up and handed Ryoga the bag. "I've dried your clothes the best I could."

Ryoga could sense that Ranma was down the hall listening in. Ryoga took the bag and tousled Masaru's hair like he would when he was a kid. "Thanks."

Masaru looked uncomfortable with the tousling and fixed his hair. He started walking towards the living room but made sure to look back to see if Ryoga was following.

Ryoga smiled and followed Masaru. As he entered the main room, Momoko latched onto his leg.

"Please don't go Uncle P-chan! You can stay with us forever!"

Ryoga bent down and gave Momoko a large hug. "Don't worry Momo-chan. Uncle Ryoga will come back. You can count on it!"

She still looked sad, but looked into his face, "You promise?"

For a brief second… a thought of Reiko flashed across his mind… but with a determination in his voice, he said, "I promise."

Akane walked into the room dressed in a white gi. "It was nice to see you again Ryoga! Come by anytime. Sorry I can't stay for your whole good-bye. I have a class starting in a few minutes. Good Luck with Nabiki!" She jogged off to the dojo.

Ranma picked up Momoko, so she wasn't holding onto Ryoga anymore. "Come on Ryoga. I think I heard Nabiki's car pull up." Ranma motioned to the front door and Ryoga picked his backpack back up.

In front of the house was a very fancy black car. A very well dressed man got out of the car and opened the back door, motioning for Ryoga to get in. "Mr. Hibiki, I presume? I was told to pick you up by Ms. Tendo."

Ryoga was confused for a moment, as was Ranma. Ranma spoke up first, "I thought Nabiki was coming here?"

The driver straightened and looked directly at Ranma. "Ms. Tendo is quite busy and sent me to pick up Mr. Hibiki." Looking back at Ryoga, the driver continues, "Might we proceed Mr. Hibiki? We are on a tight schedule."

Ryoga looked at Ranma, who shrugged his shoulders. This seemed like something Nabiki would do. She didn't have a whole lot of time on her hands after-all. Waving a last good-bye to Ranma and Momoko, Ryoga got into the back of the car with his backpack, tossing the bag of slightly damp clothes on the backpack.

Ranma and Momoko were both waving good-bye to Ryoga. "You better come back before this one's old enough to take you on!"

Ryoga chuckled at the comment, but couldn't retort back as the car had already started pulling away. Looking around, the car was quite roomy and very comfortable. There was, however, a dark glass separating him and the driver. 'I guess this'll be a quite ride.' With that thought, Ryoga leaned back into the plush seat and relaxed. This wasn't a bad way to travel at all….

A/N – Chapter 2! Don't worry, the story will be starting proper next chapter. I just love the world-building. I love thinking that these characters have everyday lives and just go about their business. Let me know if you like the story!


	3. Chapter 3

Roamin' Ryoga – Chapter 3

I've been re-watching Ranma ½ with a friend of mine and we've been talking about fanfictions we read back in the day. We used to read A LOT of Ranma ½ fanfiction. So, while at work, this idea came to me. I hope I can do it justice.

I don't own Ranma 1/2, or any other properties, songs, movies, or people mentioned in this story. Any resemblance to real people, or events are entirely coincidental.

'I'm soooooo hungry….'

Ryoga Hibiki, 35, was sitting in the back of a luxury car—starving. Not literally of course, but his stomach sure was growling. The car ride to meet Nabiki was taking much longer than Ryoga had anticipated. He was supposed to meet her for lunch, and was picked up at about 11:30. The car ride had now been a little over an hour. Ryoga was about to knock on the glass separating him from the driver to ask how much longer when the car came to a stop. The door opened, and the bright sunlight beamed into the car. Ryoga hadn't noticed quite how tinted all the windows had been.

"Ms. Tendo is waiting for you Mr. Hibiki. I am to escort you to her private dining room." A formal voice could be heard from a tall, muscular man in dark sunglasses and a suit who was holding the car door open.

Ryoga exited the car and once his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, looked around. They were at a very large building in what appeared to be downtown Tokyo. Everyone Ryoga could see was dressed in business suits, bustling around as quickly as possible. Many talking on small phones, or looking at various electronic devices. Ryoga was about to take a step when he felt a hand grab him by the arm. "What are you…"

"You were about to walk the wrong way. Ms. Tendo has strict orders for me to make sure you don't wander off on your own." The man in the sunglasses pointed towards the building and finished with, "Ms. Tendo is waiting for you. We really must be going."

Ryoga looked a little sheepish at almost wandering off into downtown Tokyo, and consented to being led inside the building.

After a number of hallways and a very long elevator ride, Ryoga was sent through a door and Mr. Sunglasses let go of him. Ryoga noticed he was on a large terrace, over-looking the city. There were many plants, and a table, at which sat Nabiki Tendo. She was sipping what appeared to be iced tea and concentrating only on the silver rectangle she was holding. Every now and then she would poke, or swipe at the front of the device.

With a loud, precise voice, the man in the sunglasses announced, "Ms. Tendo, Mr. Hibiki is here as you requested. Shall I send in your lunch?"

Nabiki looked up and saw Ryoga. A large smile entered her face. "Yes, yes. Bring lunch around, Ryoga! So nice to see you. Why don't you sit down?" She motioned to a seat at her table.

Ryoga never quite knew how to act around Nabiki. There were times in their past were she seemed to manipulate everyone around her… no one quite knew where they stood with her, or what her goals really were. He tentatively sat at a seat across from Nabiki. Before he knew it, a glass was filled with ice water in front of him. Looking up in surprise, a young man in a clean button down shirt and clean black pants had just finished filling his water and was walking away back inside. Before he made it all the way inside, Ryoga shouted to him, "Thank you!"

"Don't worry about him. Their job is to get things done without interrupting whatever I'm doing, and right now that's a meeting with you." Nabiki was smiling more than Ryoga remembered was normal for her. She seemed…. Happy.

"And… why is that exactly? Why did you want to see me?" Ryoga asked perplexedly.

"Oh, come now!" Nabiki waved him off. "Never start a lunch meeting with the main thing! You should always start a lunch meeting with small-talk and food. We can get down to business after. So how've you been?" As she talked, salads appeared in front of both Nabiki and Ryoga. She grabbed a fork and started eating.

"Uh… I've been fine. I've been wandering, same as always." Ryoga still didn't know why he was here… or what Nabiki wanted. Tentatively, he took a bite of his salad. "Hey, this is really good. I had a salad like this once in a city called… what was it… Athens!"

Nabiki's smile got just a touch bigger. "Athens you say? This is a pretty good Greek salad. So you've been traveling the world? I seem to remember you only traveling Japan back in the day."

Ryoga swallowed the bite of salad he had bitten into, "Yeah. I mostly wander Japan, but sometimes I find myself on boats going to other countries. It's really helped some of my languages though."

"That's fascinating. What languages have you learned?" Nabiki seemed just a little too eager for details, but Ryoga didn't notice as he kept eating the salad.

"I've gotten really good at English and Mandarin. I can get by in French and Korean. I only know a few phrases here and there in anything else. Once you learn enough English, you can usually get by. A lot of places try to cater to American tourists… and they never learn other languages." Ryoga had finished his salad and a plate with grilled chicken, white rice, and some steamed vegetables showed up in front of him. The same meal showed up in front of Nabiki, but with much smaller portions.

Nabiki seemed pleased and ate more of her lunch. "It's true, English is quickly becoming the language to know when traveling or doing business. Americans are usually not adept at learning the languages of the countries they do business with. But they are still worth doing business with." Nabiki nodded sagely at her own advice.

They both ate in silence for a moment. Ryoga finished his meal quickly, (but neatly!) and Nabiki called for the dishes to be taken away. "Ryoga. Would you like to know why I asked to meet you today?"

Ryoga nodded. "Very much so."

Nabiki leaned down and grabbed a small box next to her chair. Opening it, she pulled out a small rectangle like Akane had the previous day. "This, is your new smartphone. I will be paying the bill for it, and it has the best international data and voice plan available. I got everything you need including a durable waterproof case, an extended battery, and extra charging cables in case something goes wrong or you just lose one. They're easy enough to replace, but I thought you should have extras."

Ryoga just looked at Nabiki dumbfounded. He had no idea what she was saying. His face must have given away how lost he was because Nabiki stopped talking about the phone and looked at Ryoga.

"Ryoga, I have a project I'd like you to do. I would like to be a part of it. You'll be my new venture, but I need you to be able to learn some things. I don't think you can learn it all in a day… and I believe you'll be more receptive to my project once you get the hang of your new phone." Nabiki handed Ryoga the phone, and the box she had it stored in previously. The box had quite a few things still inside.

"What… How… How am I supposed to figure out how this works?" Ryoga just sat there, dumbfounded by the box of unfamiliar objects.

"Easy! I'll have Hiro show you." She picks up her device (which looks like a phone the size of her head) and taps on a few things. About a minute later, a young man in a business suit showed up on the patio, slightly winded. "Hiro, this is Ryoga. He'll be your project for the next two days. I set up office 423 on the fourth floor as his bedroom. You will be teaching him the ins and outs of using his new phone and accessories. I will have another meeting with the two of you Friday afternoon." Everything she said and did was done with extreme precision and confidence.

Hiro nodded and turned to Ryoga. "Are you ready to get started?"

Ryoga was more confused than ever. "Wait… what? What's going on?" He was rapidly looking back and forth between Nabiki and Hiro.

Nabiki just smiled and responded, "It's time to join the 21st century Ryoga. I'll see you Friday." And with that, Nabiki grabbed her things and walked through a door on the opposite side of the terrace.

Ryoga looked back to Hiro, who was looking nervous. "I guess I'm going with you?"

Hiro bowed to Ryoga, "Yes, sir. I will do my best to be of service to you Mr. Hibiki."

Ryoga got very uncomfortable with the way Hiro called him Mr. Hibiki and Sir. "Hey, you don't have to be so formal! Just call me Ryoga. Lead the way."

"Yes Sir, Ryoga Sir." Hiro had bowed again and started to walk back the way Ryoga had come in. Ryoga was very careful to follow closely.

Ryoga had been following Hiro very closely through the building. He was a little surprised when the young man suddenly stopped and took out a small plastic card. Placing it next to a device by a door, the door opened as if by magic.

Hiro turned to Ryoga and bowed once again while gesturing inside the room. "This will be your home for the next two days."

"Will you stop doing that?" Ryoga's discomfort just wouldn't subside.

"Doing what, sir?" Hiro stood straight and looked at Ryoga. He seemed sincere, but also a little scared.

"All that bowing and calling me sir. Just call me Ryoga, and act normal." Ryoga walked inside the room Hiro had indicated and placed his bag down next to a comfy looking arm chair.

Hiro quickly followed suit into the room stammering, "Ah… I'm… I'm sorry si-Ryoga. I'm sorry Ryoga."

Ryoga looked around what was going to be his home for the next two days. It was simple, but not too bad. It seemed to be a single room, but a fairly sizable one. A western style bed was against the far wall, and there was a Japanese style table in the middle of the room. There was also a small refrigerator in a corner of the room. A sink was next to it as was a small counter-top. Next to where he was standing, two comfy looking armchairs sat with a small end table between them.

Hiro had closed the door behind them, so the hustle and bustle coming from other offices were drowned out. They were in an entirely different world from the rest of the offices. "So si-Ryoga, would you like to get started learning about your new phone?" He sounded fake-optimistic. Ryoga could hear the nervousness in his voice.

Ryoga sat in one of the armchairs and looked at Hiro. He motioned to the other armchair, "You should sit down. I'm not going to feel comfortable learning anything if you keep acting like I'm going to attack you or something. Why are you so nervous?"

Hiro sat in the chair next to Ryoga and visibly relaxed just a bit. "Because… this is my first real job and I'm afraid of screwing it up. Ms. Nabiki Tendo is legendary back at business school. Getting a job here fresh out of school is very difficult, even if you interned here."

Ryoga shifted in his seat, unsure if the chair really was as comfy as it looked, "How long have you been here?"

Hiro was still visibly nervous, "Since yesterday officially. I was an intern when I was in school. A lot of my classmates and myself worked very hard but after graduation, none of us were offered jobs. That was a few months ago."

"Then how are you here now?" Ryoga seemed to finally find an angle he was happy sitting at.

Hiro's hands started fidgeting together. "Yesterday I got a phone-call out of nowhere. It was actually Ms. Tendo herself. I was shocked. She said she had a special project that she wanted me to work on but only if I could get to her office as soon as possible. I showed up yesterday and she said that first I would be teaching you how to use a variety of electronic devices. She gave me a list of functions she wanted you to have mastered by Friday. I spent most of yesterday evening getting this room together."

Ryoga looked around once more, "You did a good job."

Hiro blushed modestly, "Thanks. I just want to do a good job so I can move out on my own. This job means everything to me right now."

Ryoga looked at the determined look that came across Hiro's face. "Well, I don't want to be the one responsible for youyour losing your first job. Let's go through what was in that box Nabiki gave me."

Hiro looked up at Ryoga and smiled. His was determined to teach this man how a cellphone worked. "Right!" Hiro jumped up from the chair and grabbed the box from Ryoga.

Ryoga got up from his chair as well and walked towards the Japanese table in the middle of the room. "I'll be more comfortable here."

Hiro nodded and sat next to him at the table, opening the box between them. He pulled out the phone Nabiki had showed Ryoga upstairs. "This is your new iPhone 6s Plus. The newest one out right now. You seem to have the Space Grey, 128 Gig model. We will need to set it up in a moment."

Ryoga just looked at Hiro blankly. He didn't understand anything Hiro was saying, but was trying to pay close attention, hoping to learn anything from what he was saying.

Hiro wasn't looking at Ryoga's face. He was engrossed in seeing what all he had to teach Ryoga and what supplies he would have. "She seems to have included an orange and black Otterbox Defender case. That should keep your phone pretty safe from most falls and water splashing. Just don't drop it completely into any water. Hmm… a few cables… a back-up battery…. And an octopus style flexible tripod." Hiro looked up at Ryoga for the first time since opening the box. "Do you have a laptop?"

Ryoga was nervous. He wasn't sure what he was asking. "Uhhhh…."

Hiro sighed. "You don't even know what a laptop is do you?"

Ryoga shook his head.

Hiro looked in the box once more and found a piece of paper. "Here! This should have all I need to know on it." Hiro read the paper and got up from the table. He headed towards the small end-table between the "comfy" chairs. He opened a drawer and pulled out a silver rectangle. "Ms. Tendo seems to have anticipated that and left us a laptop for you to use. It does have strict instructions on it though. Only Ms. Tendo and I will have access to it, I'm only to use it to get your phone ready and then leave it here. If you ever need to use it for anything, you will come back here." Hiro placed it on the Japanese style table and sat back down. He opened the laptop and turned it on. A log-in screen appeared and Hiro looked at the paper once more. He typed in the password and it showed up to a clean desktop with a picture Ryoga recognized right away. "That's a nice picture. Is that you?" Hiro pointed at Ryoga in the picture.

"Yeah. That was at my friend's wedding. I was the Best Man." Ryoga smiled a sad smile at the picture. It was Akane and Ranma's wedding. Everyone was smiling in the picture but Ryoga knew that not everyone in the picture had been happy on that day.

"That's nice." Hiro didn't know the history… and there was no reason to get into it. He was moving his finger on a square below a section with letters on it, occasionally pushing down on the square . After a few clicks and some typing, he grabbed Ryoga's phone and one of the cables. He plugged the cable into the phone and the laptop. Hiro had gotten quiet, but engrossed in his work. He would periodically check the paper Nabiki had left him and then type some more. "Okay, we're almost done… Can you place your finger here?" Hiro was pointing at the round button on the bottom of his phone.

Ryoga didn't know what they were doing, but he placed his finger on the button and clicked. A small window popped up on the screen. [Oops, You Clicked - Rest your finger on the Home button without clicking it.] "Wha?"

Hiro get out a small laugh. "You need to just place your finger there and not click it. Gently." Hiro clicked on the screen and closed the error window. He then grabbed Ryoga's hand and gently placed Ryoga's finger on the circle. It buzzed lightly under his touch and some red lines filled in on the screen. "There you go!" Hiro let go of Ryoga's hand. "Now just do that a few more times until it says it has enough. Be sure to move your finger slightly between placements.

Ryoga didn't know what the purpose of this was, but picked up his finger and repeatedly placed it back on the circle. Each time it would gently buzz and more red lines would fill in until they were all filled in. Another window popped up asking him to change his grip and to try and get the sides of his finger.

Hiro looked over and clicked the button that said 'okay'. "Now you do the same thing but get the sides of your fingers. The top and stuff too."

Ryoga did as he was asked and after a few placements, it seemed to be done. Hiro grabbed the phone back and did a few more things. After what seemed like a very long time, he seemed to be done with messing with it. He placed it down, still plugged into the laptop.

"It needs to finish downloading a few things before I can set them up. It seems that she wants me to teach you the basics today, and if you get those down… than the ins and outs of video capture, setting up shots… and how to upload things to the cloud." Hiro was looking at the sheet of paper while talking to Ryoga. Now that he was in his element, he was a lot more confident and comfortable around Ryoga. "If you can get the basics down quickly thenthan we can start some of that tonight. Depending on how late you want to work." He looked up at Ryoga.

Ryoga thought about it for a moment. "I don't have any plans, and I can't really go anywhere… But I don't want you to stay too late if you have things to do."

Hiro smiled sheepishly. "I still live at home with my parents. This is my first job, I don't have anything important to do… and I think they would be proud of me if I worked late. Show initiative and move up in the company. Plus, I only have two days to teach you everything. We can try our best and if we get done early, than I can teach you other things about your phone if you wanted."

"Yeah!" Hiro's positivity and confidence was contagious. Ryoga was getting excited.

"Then let's get started!"

A/N – Chapter 3! These things keep being longer than I anticipated. I thought we'd have the main plot to the story going by now… but nope! I suppose it'll be here next chapter… I mean… we have to get there eventually, right?


	4. Chapter 4

Roamin' Ryoga – Chapter 4

I've been re-watching Ranma ½ with a friend of mine and we've been talking about fanfictions we read back in the day. We used to read A LOT of Ranma ½ fanfiction. So, while at work, this idea came to me. I hope I can do it justice.

I don't own Ranma 1/2, or any other properties, songs, movies, or people mentioned in this story. Any resemblance to real people, or events are entirely coincidental.

"So I click this?"

A click could be heard, and a flash of light illuminated part of the small room.

"Yeah! You got it! Let's check how it looks." Hiro walked towards Ryoga and gently moved Ryoga's hand to face him. "Click right there in the bottom left corner!"

Ryoga pointed to a small square in the corner of the screen that showed a tiny Hiro, "There?"

"Yes! It should bring up the picture you just took."

Ryoga pressed his finger down on the square and the small picture took over his screen. It was Hiro, smiling wide, and giving the V for victory sign. "Whoa!"

"That came out pretty good. Nice and clear. I'm glad Ms. Tendo bought you the plus model. Your hands are so large, it's the only way you can hold onto it without getting in the way of any of your shots." Hiro gave a small laugh.

"The basics of it isn't all that different from old fashioned film cameras. The only difference is… I can see this one right away!" Ryoga seemed more confident about what he was doing. Most of what Hiro had been teaching him was actually pretty easy. It's like someone took a bunch of others things, and just put them all in the palm of your hand.

"I knew you'd pick up on it! Apple did a pretty good job at having a simple interface that most people could just pick-up and learn… even without much training in technology or computers." Hiro seemed more excited than ever. Everything was going so smoothly! Ryoga had learned how to enter information into his contacts page, how to make a phone call, how to send a text message, how to use his e-mail (that Nabiki set up), and even how to take a picture! All in one afternoon! Well, they had taken a break for some dinner… where Ryoga regaled Hiro with stories of his youth (some involving Nabiki)… It had actually gotten quite late.

Ryoga yawned. "What time is it?"

Hiro pointed to Ryoga's phone, "Your phone should have the time. Anytime you go to the home screen, or your lock screen, you should see what time it is."

Ryoga clicked the home button and saw that it was nearly midnight. "It's nearly midnight! I think we should call it for the day."

"Yeah, I guess I should let you get… to…" Hiro yawned really loudly. "Huh. I guess it is later than I thought."

Ryoga looked to Hiro, "Are you gonna be okay getting home?"

Hiro thought about it. "I'm not even sure if the trains are running this late. I've never been out this late alone. One of my friends will usually have a car."

Ryoga walked over to his backpack and pulled out a worn sleeping bag. He rolled it out over an open part of the floor. "You take the bed. I'm used to sleeping in my bag."

Hiro looked at him in shock. "I can't do that! Ms. Tendo set up this bed for you! I'll sleep on the floor."

Ryoga stopped him before he reached his sleeping bag. "No, you've worked so hard to help me, and I really do sleep in this bag most of the time. I'll probably sleep better since it's familiar."

Hiro gave a small bow and thanked Ryoga. They shut out the lights, and readied themselves for bed. It would be a long day tomorrow…

When Ryoga woke up, he didn't quite know where he was. He was in his sleeping bag… but the ground was very flat and kind of hard. It was very dark. He was sure it was morning though…

*beepbeepbeepbeepbeep*

Ryoga looked towards the sound of the beeping and remembered where he was. A screen on the other side of the room lit up as the beeping stopped. Illuminated by the screen, Ryoga could see a disheveled Hiro, fumbling for his glasses. A few moments later, Hiro had found his way to the light switch and the room was as bright as it had been the previous day.

"Good Morning, Hiro." Ryoga was used to waking up pretty early. Usually with the sun.

Hiro's eyes were barely open, and he grumbled a barely audible "Good Morning…" Hiro shuffled over to what they were calling the kitchen area. He opened one of the bottom cabinets and looked inside. "Score!" He pulled out a small red machine and placed it on the counter. He plugged it into the wall and grabbed a mug from another cabinet. He filled the cup and poured the water into the machine a few times.

"What is that?" Ryoga had rolled up his bag and was watching what Hiro had been doing.

Hiro didn't look up and kept working with the machine, turning it on. "I'm making coffee. I found a Keurig in the cabinet. It's small and one of the cheapest models… but it'll do what I need it to do for now." He had found a box in the cabinet and took a small sealed cup out of it. He opened the top of the machine and placed the cup in. When he closed the lid, a small pop could be heard as the cup had been punctured. After about a minute, Hiro placed the mug in the front of the machine and pressed the button on the right side of the machine. Hiro looked at Ryoga for the first time that morning, "Do you want any? I can make you one after my cup is done."

The machine had started sputtering a little and coffee started pouring into the cup. "I've never much cared for coffee. It tends to be too bitter."

The machine seemed to have finished filling the mug and Hiro moved it out of the way, adding a packet of sugar to it. "I understand. It's not for everyone. I think we do have some tea though…" Hiro took a sip of his coffee and looked in the cabinet once again. "Ah! Here we go. I found some Tazo green tea."

Ryoga was confused for a moment. "Tazo?"

"It's just the brand. I think they're owned by Starbucks. It's American… but should be more your speed." Hiro had pulled out the small white cup with a green seal on top.

"I'll give it a try. I like green tea… so I guess where it comes from shouldn't matter." Ryoga was doing some morning stretches in an open part of the room.

Hiro pulled another cup out of the cabinet and ran the machine. Plain hot water with a few dark flecks was in the cup. He dumped it into the sink, rinsed it, and placed it back into the machine. After adding the pod, he ran the machine again and green tea flowed into the cup. When it was done brewing, he offered the cup to Ryoga while sipping his own coffee.

"Thanks." Ryoga stopped stretching to take the tea and drink it. 'Well, it's not great… but it's not the worst thing I've ever had.'

"Any good?" Hiro was cleaning the counter they just used, but left out the machine for drinks later in the day.

"It's not terrible." Ryoga drank the rest of the tea. "I could go for some breakfast though… "

Hiro thought about it for a moment, "I think I remember where the cafeteria is. I'll go get us breakfast."

Ryoga started to get up from the table he sat at…

"No. You stay here. I don't want to lose you on my third day of work." Hiro pointed at the table, asking Ryoga to stay in the room.

"What should I do while you're gone?" Ryoga didn't like to be cooped up alone for long.

"You just got a brand new smartphone, play with it." Hiro waved behind him as he left the room.

'Great. I only know how to do a few things… and none of them seem useful right now…' Ryoga looked over at the table they had left his phone on. He picked it up and pressed the home button, letting his finger linger to unlock the screen. To his surprise, there was a small red bubble with the number 1 in it on the e-mail button. Hiro had told him that that means he has an unread e-mail. Ryoga pressed the e-mail button and there was an e-mail from Nabiki. He gently pressed the email and a window popped up with the message in it, but disappeared when he lifted his finger. He wasn't sure what just happened, but the mail still seemed to bet there so Ryoga tried pressing it harder, and it seemed to open for real this time.

[From: Nabiki Tendo Hide

To: Ryoga Hibiki

Hi There!

June 23, 2016 at 6:23 AM

Hey Ryoga! I'm sending this as a test, to see if you

learned to use your email yesterday. I know everyone

back home will be really excited when you finally

learn how to use everything. They miss you a lot

when you aren't around, you know? Anyway, I'll see

you tomorrow!

Nabiki Tendo

CEO Tendo Consulting Firm]

Ryoga read the short message. It didn't seem to have much point to it. 'I guess I should write a response? Hmmm….' Ryoga thought about it. If he could send any response, it would let Nabiki know that he learned something. He tried to remember what he had to press… 'I think he said the small square with the pencil will write a new e-mail… but I think it's different if I have to respond to one sent to me?' Ryoga carefully considered each of the five icons at the bottom of his screen. The first three seemed obviously not what Ryoga was looking for. 'Was it this arrow?' Ryoga pressed the left facing arrow and 4 options showed up on his screen. [Reply, Forward, Print, Cancel] With a little more confidence, Ryoga pressed the option that said Reply. Another window popped up.

[Cancel Re: Hi There! Send

To: Nabiki Tendo

Cc/Bcc:

Subject: Re: Hi There!

Sent from my iPhone

|On June 23,2016, at 6:23 AM, Nabiki Tendo

|nabiki tendocon,com wrote:

|Hey Ryoga! I'm sending this as a test, to see if you

|learned to use your email yesterday. I know everyone

|back home will be really excited when you finally

|learn how to use everything. They miss you a lot

|when you aren't around, you know? Anyway, I'll see

|you tomorrow!

|Nabiki Tendo

|CEO Tendo Consulting Firm]

There was a blinking cursor after the subject line and right before the line that said Sent from my iPhone. The bottom part of the screen had a keyboard. Ryoga typed in a quick message.

[Cancel Re: Hi There! Send

To: Nabiki Tendo

Cc/Bcc:

Subject: Re: Hi There!

Hey! I learned how to send this last night. Hiro is

getting us breakfast. Thank you for the phone, you

seem to be going through a lot of work to get me to

learn how to use it though. Are you going to tell me

why? -Ryoga

Sent from my iPhone

|On June 23,2016, at 6:23 AM, Nabiki Tendo

|nabiki tendocon,com wrote:

|Hey Ryoga! I'm sending this as a test, to see if you

|learned to use your email yesterday. I know everyone

|back home will be really excited when you finally

|learn how to use everything. They miss you a lot

|when you aren't around, you know? Anyway, I'll see

|you tomorrow!

|Nabiki Tendo

|CEO Tendo Consulting Firm]

Ryoga clicked the send button in the corner of the screen and the window disappeared with a literal whooshing sound. Ryoga smiled to himself. He had done something all on his own.

Looking at the time at the top of his phone, he sees that it's only been a few minutes. He had already done his stretching… and there wasn't enough room to do a kata in the room. Looking back at his phone screen, there were still a lot of square buttons he wasn't familiar with. Some seemed obvious, like the Calendar, Clock, or Notes. Some were still a mystery… What was Podcasts, Twitter, Facebook, or Pandora? What's an App Store? Ryoga noticed two things that he might be able to figure out. One said iBooks and the other was a square filled with other squares labeled Games.

'Well, that one may have a book for me to read, but that might have games? I wonder how games on this works? And can you play a game by yourself?' Pushing that last thought aside for now, Ryoga clicked on iBooks and a screen came up that said [iCloud for iBooks]. Ryoga had heard Hiro talk about the cloud, but still wasn't quite sure what it was, or what it did. It seemed to be waiting for a response… Deciding to deal with it later, he pressed the [Not Now] button. It opened to a page with a variety of current books. After clicking on one, Ryoga noticed that this was a shop. It was trying to sell him books. 'I don't have any money on me… Games it is then.' He clicked on the home button and then on the square labeled [Games].

This one didn't launch anything. The square expanded on the screen, the title [Games] large at the top. The smaller squares inside the other one seem to be the games it was referring to. There were a few to choose from. There seemed to be Solitaire, Go, Angry Birds, and a few others. 'I've always enjoyed a good game of Go…' Ryoga clicked the one labeled [Go]. A small Go board appeared on the screen. After hitting a few things, it seemed pretty easy to play on it against an invisible opponent. You just pressed where you wanted your piece to go.

"I'm back. I have breakfast for both of us." Hiro seemed to be struggling with the door a bit, juggling the 2 meals like he was, but seemed to get in the room fine. He saw Ryoga sitting at the center table clicking away at his phone. "You seemed to find something to pass your time." Hiro put the meals on the table and looked over Ryoga's shoulder. "Ah, Go. I figured you might like that one. It's such an old game, I figured you might already know how to play."

Ryoga looked up, startled. "When did you get here?"

Hiro looked at Ryoga quizzically. "Just now, I brought our breakfasts." Hiro pointed to the meals he placed on the table.

Ryoga shook his head a little and looked back at the screen of his phone. He had really zoned out on this thing…

Hiro grabbed Ryoga's phone gently and placed it on the table. "Don't go getting too caught up in games on your phone. They're only supposed to help pass some times when you have nothing better to do. You don't want to lose yourself in your phone. Here… I got you an Omurice." Hiro passed Ryoga a covered plate.

Ryoga took the cover off and saw a steamy rice filled omelet. "Thanks. I'll try not to get caught up in it again." The steam from his omelet hid the slight blush on his face.

Hiro laughed, "Don't worry about it! It happens to everyone at some point. I'm just glad it happened to you while I was here and not while you were doing anything important." Hiro took a large bite of his own Omurice.

Ryoga gave a small laugh back. "Yeah… I guess you're right." Ryoga looked at his Omurice and thought, 'I've never zoned out like that before… What's wrong with me… ?' He quietly started eating his breakfast.

Day two of Ryoga's training to join the Twenty-first century was almost over. It had been a very long day for both Ryoga and Hiro. They had finally gotten through everything on Nabiki's list. Now they just had to worry about Ryoga remembering it all…

"I put my contact info in your phone. If you have any problems, you can text, email, or call me and I'll be happy to help." Hiro was extremely tired, but happy. He believed he did a good job, and did it to the best of his ability. Hopefully Ms. Tendo would be proud.

"Thanks a lot Hiro… You've taught me a lot. Maybe I can keep in touch with everyone back in Nerima now. I'm sure Momo-chan will be happy." Ryoga smiled. He had learned how to use many things, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and a variety of other useful things. They had taken some pictures of themselves to post to each as practice. Hiro called them… selfies?

Hiro nodded and got up from his seat. Stretching a bit, he looked at his own phone screen. "It's getting pretty late, but I think I can still catch the train home. I'm sure my parents are wondering where I am. I'll text them I'm on my way."

"Not staying tonight?" Ryoga got up and stretched a bit too. They had been sitting for a while at the end there.

"No… you take your bed. I need to go home sometime. I'll be back in the morning, give you a quick refresher on anything you think you may have forgotten, and then get ready to see Ms. Tendo at lunch time." Hiro pocketed his phone after sending a quick message to his parents and waved to Ryoga. "I'll see you in the morning. I'll bring breakfast."

Ryoga waved back to Hiro and yawned. 'I guess it is time for bed…'

He turned off the light, and plugged his phone in to a cord Hiro had plugged into the wall. Laying down in the bed, Ryoga fell right to sleep…

A/N – Chapter 4… the first one written after I uploaded the first chapter. Sometimes I think I'm going into too much detail… but I kind of like it. Ryoga is learning… and so he pays way more attention to stuff the rest of us don't even think about. The next chapter is the meeting with Nabiki! I'm sure we'll find out what she's doing all of this for then… right?


	5. Chapter 5

Roamin' Ryoga – Chapter 5

I've been re-watching Ranma ½ with a friend of mine and we've been talking about fanfictions we read back in the day. We used to read A LOT of Ranma ½ fanfiction. So, while at work, this idea came to me. I hope I can do it justice.

I don't own Ranma 1/2, or any other properties, songs, movies, or people mentioned in this story. Any resemblance to real people, or events are entirely coincidental.

Ryoga woke up with a yawn and a stretch. He remembered where he was pretty quickly… but was starting to feel real cooped up in this room. 'I wonder how long until Hiro gets here…' Ryoga glanced at his phone, it was still plugged into the wall. 'Wait… I can find out….' Ryoga swung his legs out of the bed and walked over to where his phone was. Unplugging it, he turned it on and unlocked the screen. 'This is getting easier every time I do it! Now… I need to presss… there!' Ryoga found the green messaging app. The last message he sent was a few test messages to Hiro, so it opened right to the page to message Hiro.

[Messages Hiro Details

Thursday 2:39 PM

Hello Ryoga

Hi

Now sne that picture

*Send

[pretend there's a selfie with Ryoga and Hiro Here]

Today 7:49 AM

Hey Hiro. How long until you get here?

I don't want to get lost on my way to

the bathroom again.

[o] Text Message Send]

Having felt that he sent the message correctly, Ryoga went to his bag to find some fresher clothes. He was supposed to meet Nabiki again today.

Right as Ryoga was taking his shirt off, he heard his phone make a small ringing noise and also buzz a little. The screen flashed on for a moment and then went blank again. Ryoga tossed his old shirt in his pack and picked up his phone. With a quick click, he could see Hiro had sent a message back.

[I'm on the train now. I was gonna pick up breakfast for the both of us on my way in… Do you want anything in particular?]

'That was easy… In just moments… I knew when he would be here…' Ryoga took a moment to marvel at what technology had done. It was so small… but still seemed like magic. Unlocking his screen, Ryoga sent a message back.

[Messages Hiro Details

Thursday 2:39 PM

Hello Ryoga

Hi

Now sne that picture

*Send

[pretend there's a selfie with Ryoga and Hiro Here]

Today 7:49 AM

Hey Hiro. How long until you get here?

I don't want to get lost on my way to

the bathroom again.

I'm on the train now. I was gonna pick up

breakfast for the both of us on my way in…

Do you want anything in particular?

Anything is fine, as long as it isn't too sweet.

[o] Text Message Send]

Ryoga felt a chill, and finally realized he still didn't have a shirt on. 'Good thing no one's here…' A small blush started to appear on his face, thinking about how he would feel if anyone had walked through the door right now… even Nabiki… Shaking his head, he went back to where he laid out his clean clothes and finished changing. He then went to the only open part of the room and started doing his morning stretches….

When Hiro finally showed up, Ryoga was sitting cross legged, his eyes closed, in apparent meditation. Hiro stayed quiet when he saw this, not wanting to disturb whatever thoughts Ryoga may have been having. He placed the two plates of food on the main table and Ryoga's eyes popped open.

"Finally! Come on, I need to use the bathroom." Ryoga got up and seemed just a little grumpy.

Hiro was caught by surprise by all of this. Ryoga had seemed so calm and serene just a moment ago, and now seemed agitated. "Yeah! Sorry… I guess I forgot you mentioned that in your text."

Ryoga was holding the front door open, waiting for Hiro to lead the way. Ryoga was tired of having to do this everywhere he went… but he understood. He was hopeless… and would probably be hopeless forever.

Hiro was standing outside of the men's room, his arms folded. His face seemed to be twisted in a way to imply he was thinking about something hard. After a few minutes, Ryoga came walking out of the restroom, absentmindedly shaking his hands.

"I'm ready to go back now."

"Why do you need an escort everywhere you go?" Hiro looked at Ryoga intently. This seemed to have been weighing on his mind.

"I told you… I get lost easily…" Ryoga seemed both embarrassed and affronted at the accusatory tone Hiro had taken.

Hiro twisted his face again, seeming to be holding something back… "Alright, let's go back." Hiro relaxed his face and they walked back to what had been Ryoga's home for two days.

Ryoga paused for a second and looked at Hiro walking back to the room in bewilderment. After he realized Hiro was about to turn a corner, Ryoga jogged for second to catch up and follow Hiro back.

Once they were both in the room, they sat at the table where their breakfasts had been getting cold. They were about room temperature now, but still okay to eat.

Opening his own plate, Ryoga saw an American breakfast. There were scrambled eggs, toast, and even some sausage and bacon. Hiro was already digging into his own. The silence was a little tense and it was putting Ryoga at unease. With a little trepidation, Ryoga grabbed the plastic fork that came with the food and started to eat the eggs.

Both men ate in silence for what felt like forever… though it was really only about ten minutes. Both had finished their meals, but no one was willing to be the first to talk. They would take turns looking over at the other one, until they both started to talk at the same time.

"Hey Ryoga…" "Hey Hiro…."

At this, they both stiffened and didn't say anything else.

Ryoga spoke first this time, "Hey Hiro, what's wrong? You've been acting weird since the bathroom."

Hiro shifted uncomfortably and looked Ryoga in the face. "Well, I just don't understand. You say you get lost easily… but even to the bathroom? Just around the corner from where we are now?" Hiro sounded very incredulous… like this was some kind of elaborate prank on the new guy.

Ryoga sighed. He would lose another friend… or at least someone he'd like to consider a friend… to his curse. "It's some kind of curse that effects my family. We have no sense of direction at all. Even with directions or maps… we always get lost. It's a miracle I can find the same place twice sometimes. I've never been able to attend any school for long… I've never held a regular job… I've never had a real girlfriend…" Ryoga got sadder with everything he said. Unnoticed by Hiro, who was not trained to see such things, a faint green glow was starting to materialize around Ryoga.

Even if he couldn't see Ryoga's aura… Hiro started to feel really bad for bringing it up. It seemed to be a sore spot for the man in front of him. He tried to put a smile back on his face and he reached out for Ryoga's shoulder. "Hey, at least now you can talk and chat with people even if you're lost!"

Ryoga looked up at Hiro, saw his wide smile and smiled himself. With a nod, his aura broke and he seemed to be okay. He gathered their trash from the table and went to put it on the counter in the kitchen area.

"It's funny though…" Hiro was looking at the celing thoughtfully.

"What is?"

"That Ms. Tendo had me teach you just about everything on your new phone to keep in contact with people… but not how to use any of the maps or GPS applications… It's nowhere on this list of things for me to teach you." Hiro was looking at the list Nabiki had left him, turning it over in his hands as if they had missed something.

Ryoga stopped what he was doing and thought about it. "That is weird. Do you really think it would help me? I've had trouble with maps before." Ryoga grabbed two bottles of water from the mini-fridge and sat back down next to Hiro, handing him one.

Hiro took the water and drank a swig. "It wouldn't hurt to try. The maps combined with GPS may yet help you in the broad sense… but probably couldn't help you small scale like finding bathrooms…" Hiro was thinking about it intently. After a few moments of both men thinking silently, Hiro spoke up. "Well, it's possible it could help, but it wasn't on the list and we have a very important meeting with Ms. Tendo in a few hours. You've made tremendous progress. The fact you were able to text me this morning was a great sign. You're getting more used to using it as intended, rather than just having it with you and ignoring it most of the day. It should become an extension of yourself." Hiro was showing the same determination he was the first day they started.

Ryoga nodded and agreed.

"It's time to go, Do you have all your things?"

"Yeah… where should I put my phone?" Ryoga was checking his large pack, making sure he had all of his worldly possessions, when he brought up his phone and was looking towards Hiro for advice.

"Where..? In your pocket! Where else?" Hiro looked incredulous at the question.

Ryoga looked just as incredulous back. "I don't have any. Where should I put it?"

Dumbfounded, Hiro stammered, "You… you don't….? How do you not have any pockets?"

Ryoga shrugged, "I've never really needed them. I always have my pack with me."

Hiro pinched his temple, thinking. After a moment he sighed and looked back at Ryoga. "You'll just have to find an exterior pocket that you can have quick access to for now. But you really need to get some pockets on your pants. Or just buy new pants that have pockets." He picked up a folder of papers from their table. "We need to get going, Ms. Tendo will be waiting for us."

Ryoga quickly slipped his phone in a pocket on the side of his bag and hoisted it onto his shoulders.

As both men left the room, Hiro made sure to turn off the lights. Ryoga waited for him in the hallway, needing him to lead the way to wherever Nabiki wanted to meet them. Hiro quickly led them to the elevators. It was a bit of a tight fit with Ryoga's pack and all the regular workers just trying to go about their day. Hiro pressed the button for the top floor and the other regular workers started whispering amongst themselves. The elevator stopped every couple of floor to let people off and on, as they slowly climbed to the top. The whole way, more and more people whispering about both the strange man with the large backpack and the young man who pressed the button for the top floor. Ryoga would look around uncomfortably when he heard them whispering about him… and every time they would stop talking if he looked at them. Hiro was digging through the papers in the folder he was holding, and pointedly ignoring what all the other elevator riders where saying. This was his big chance… and he wasn't going to mess it up.

Just below the final floor, Hiro and Ryoga were alone. It seemed that it was rare for anyone to go up to Nabiki's floor. After-all, she had a private elevator… and most of her meetings were digital or somewhere else entirely. Hiro was shuffling through his papers even faster now… his nerves very obvious even to the usually oblivious Ryoga.

Ryoga placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder and looked at him with a reassuring smile. When Hiro turned his head to him, Ryoga said softly, "It'll be okay. Nabiki's not really a bad person." Hiro nodded and looked at the elevator doors. The small ding they heard indicated that they were finally at their destination… The double doors to the elevator opened up to a lovely lobby… One both men had seen just a few days earlier. Hiro started walking towards the patio they had met her at previously when a large man in a suit and dark sunglasses stopped him and Ryoga.

"We're supposed to see Ms. Tendo. We have a lunch meeting?" Hiro was very obviously intimidated by the man. He was also worried that they may miss their meeting.

The large man slowly lowered him hand but did not move out of the way. In a low booming voice, that was oddly gentler than Hiro expected, he replied, "Ms. Tendo is expecting you, but says there's a chance of rain today. You'll be meeting her in the board room."

None of this mattered to Ryoga except the part where Nabiki thought about how even a chance of rain around him meant there would be at least some rain. Rain seemed to have a way of finding Ryoga…

Hiro however, seemed even more nervous. He had heard of legendary meetings taking place in that room between some of the most powerful business people in the entire world. There are people who work for years hoping for only a chance to stand inside that room… and now he would have an entire meeting… with Ms. Tendo… in that legendary room?!

Hiro's breathing sped up and Ryoga patted him on the back a few times… seeming to try and calm him down.

Ryoga looked at the large man and asked nonchalantly, "Could you show us to the Board Room? I don't want to keep Nabiki waiting if I can help it."

The large man furrowed his brow a bit. He was not familiar with anyone being so… familiar with Ms. Tendo. No one usually dared to call her by her first name… Knowing that these two were expected, the large man knew it was unprofessional to leave Ms. Tendo waiting and led both Hiro and Ryoga to the Board Room that Nabiki was waiting in.

A/N - I just uploaded chapter 4 as I finish the final draft of this chapter… My buffer is falling a little behind. The formatting of the phone screen doesn't hold as I was hoping when I upload it. It looks so clean and nice in my word document… but Isn't as nice after I upload it. Does it still read okay out there? Should I try to change how I present it? Let me know!


	6. Chapter 6

Roamin' Ryoga – Chapter 6

I've been re-watching Ranma ½ with a friend of mine and we've been talking about fanfictions we read back in the day. We used to read A LOT of Ranma ½ fanfiction. So, while at work, this idea came to me. I hope I can do it justice.

I don't own Ranma 1/2, or any other properties, songs, movies, or people mentioned in this story. Any resemblance to real people, or events are entirely coincidental.

The three men walked through the halls. The large one leading the way with purpose. Hiro was still incredibly nervous and Ryoga was just trying his best to concentrate on following the large man. After a bit of walking, they approached a pair of large oak doors. The large man pressed a small button to the right of the door. After a brief moment, they could hear Nabiki's voice.

"Who's there?"

In his gruff voice, the large man responded, "Your lunch appointment with Mr. Hibiki and Mr. Shiratori is here."

"Send them right in! And go ahead and send in the food I ordered for the meeting. Bring the nice placemats so I don't ruin my table." Nabiki's voice came through the small speaker by the door.

"Yes Ma'am." The large man opened one of the large oak doors and held it open for Hiro and Ryoga.

Both men walked into the door, Hiro stopping just inside to marvel at the room. The back wall was all windows with sunlight beaming into the room. The walls on either side had some fine paintings lining them. In the center of the room was the board room table. It was a beautiful dark Cherrywood table with matching chairs. It was the most beautiful thing Hiro had ever seen…

Ryoga didn't notice the décor. He walked in and greeted Nabiki, who smiled and welcomed her guests.

"Hey Ryoga, Hiro. Come on and sit down over here. I know it's not as nice to eat here than my patio, but there was a small chance for rain today and I didn't want anyone to get wet." She gave a small wink to Ryoga who blushed for just a moment. Hiro didn't notice either happen and sat in a chair two seats away from Nabiki, letting Ryoga take the chair closest to her after placing his large backpack against the wall to one side.

Right as everyone sat down, a young man came in and quietly placed glasses of water next to everyone while also placing coasters under each glass. Ryoga and Hiro were quick with their thanks, but the waiter seemed to disappear as fast as he had appeared. Nabiki hadn't even blinked at the water appearing and took a sip of her own glass.

"So… how've you two been? Where my accommodations acceptable?" Nabiki was chatting in a friendly voice, looking at her dining companions while waiting for their food to arrive.

Before Ryoga could say a word, Hiro jumped in with, "We've been fine and the accommodations were more than adequate!" His voice was a little louder than he was hoped, his nervousness very evident.

Ryoga meekly added, "Yeah. They were nicer than where I usually sleep."

Nabiki smiled, holding back an uncharacteristic giggle. She had a reputation to maintain after-all. "I'm glad they worked out for you two. Ah! Here's our lunches. I know Ryoga likes Salmon, do you like Salmon Hiro?"

Hiro's face was almost completely red by this point. "Yes Ma'am, I love Salmon!"

The waiter from before wheeled in a cart covered in plates and bowls, steam gently wafting off of each one. In silence, he placed out a placemat in front of each diner and doled out plates of Salmon and vegetables and bowls of rice. He also passed each of them a bowl of Miso soup, and a pair of chopsticks each. Right before leaving, he left them all spoons for the soup.

Ryoga smiled, "I love a good traditional meal!" He then grabbed his chopsticks, about to eat when he thought better of it.

Nabiki looked at him for a moment, "Aren't you going to eat?"

Hiro was looking at Ryoga too, thinking he was insulting Nabiki and worrying that they were gonna be kicked out and his career over before it began.

Ryoga nodded but said, "With a traditional meal, I should really eat it in a more traditional way, don't you think?" With that, Ryoga clapped his hands together for a moment and bowed his head. "Thank you for the food."

Nabiki smiled and followed suit, having not done this since she was a kid, it was kind of refreshing in a way.

Hiro hastily did it as well, a little upset that he was the last to follow suit, but Nabiki didn't seem to notice.

After that, they all dug into their meals. Ryoga with his usual gusto, and Nabiki and Hiro eating a little more politely and measured.

"So Hiro, how do you like working here so far?"

Hiro almost choked on a piece of broccoli he had just put in his mouth. Ryoga gave him a slight pat on the back and Hiro finished chewing and swallowed the offending piece of food. Hiro looked back at Nabiki who was still smiling and looking at Hiro, waiting on an answer to her query.

"I love working here. But I do have a question… What will I be doing after this assignment? This seemed a little out of the ordinary…" Hiro sounded a little… dejected? Like he was afraid that he would no longer be needed after today.

Nabiki however, gave a slight wave and responded, "Don't you worry about that. If you've proven yourself with this task, I'll always make sure you have a place here. We can discuss it when we get to the business portion of this meeting."

Hiro perked up a bit at her answer. When she said he would always have a place here, his heart soared. It was everything he ever wanted.

Ryoga wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the conversation happening over him, and finished his meal. It was the best food he had eaten in a long time. He sat there, content while Nabiki and Hiro finished their meals.

As was her custom for business meetings, Nabiki tried to keep up the small talk until everyone had finished their meals. Since Ryoga was finished eating, she decided to talk to him next.

"So Ryoga, I know you're on Facebook now, did you see the video Ranma posted of Masaru?" Nabiki was excellent and eating while paying attention to her guests. Being head of a large international company will do that.

Ryoga looked slightly confused for a moment. "No, I didn't. What was Masaru doing?"

"He did just post it this morning. It's a video on how Masaru finally mastered the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken! He really is just like his father." Nabiki seemed kind of proud, the way she was beaming about the video.

Ryoga had an awed look on his face, "Really? That's amazing! Do you mind if I watch it now?"

Nabiki shook her head, "Go for it! It's nice to see."

Ryoga got up from the table and walked to his nearby backpack. Like Hiro recommended, his phone was in an easily accessible exterior pocket. He grabbed it quickly and returned to the table, activating his phone and launching the Facebook app.

Nabiki was watching him intently, seeing if he could do this on his own without her or Hiro's help. Hiro was getting a little nervous again, noticing how Nabiki was looking at Ryoga.

Ryoga noticed none of this and was scrolling through his Facebook feed. There was a picture of Kasumi's twins… a few recipes shared by Akane (She was hoping to try them out soon)… An advertisement for a travel agency (ha!)… 'Ah! Here it is!' Ryoga gave a slight smile when he found the video in question. After clicking on it, he turned his phone sideways, to see the video in its optimal form.

[(Masaru is standing in front of a fire. He's holding a bag of chestnuts and a bucket of water is on either side of him.)

Ranma - "You ready?"

Masaru- "Yeah."

(Masaru opens the bag and pours all the chestnuts into the fire. He looks a little nervous.)

Ranma- "Go!"

(Masaru gets into a stance and starts thrusting his hands into the fire as fast as he can. A few seconds later, he holds all the chestnuts in his hands triumphantly holding them over his head.)

Ranma- "Do you need the water?"

Masaruexcitedly- "No! I did it! I finally did it!"]

The video ended and Ryoga was smiling.

Nabiki was also smiling, looking at Ryoga deftly maneuver around Facebook to find the video. She seemed pleased with what she's seen so far. She set down her chopsticks and said, "Well, it looks like out little lunch is over, and it may be time to talk business."

At this, the waiter from before appeared and started taking away all the dishes and placing them on his serving cart. Within a few minutes, the table was spotless and all traces of lunch had disappeared.

"So… how well have you learned what I laid out for you Ryoga?" Nabiki was looking at Ryoga with an unreadable expression. She still seemed friendly enough… but with an unmistakable edge of business first about her.

Ryoga thought for a moment before responding, "I think I got it all okay. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Plus, Hiro said if I had any trouble, I could always text him for advice."

Hiro jumped in, "He's pretty much got everything you had on the list. I just thought it would help his confidence if he had someone he could ask, instead of flying blind all the time."

Nabiki had a confident gleam in her eye, "That's actually perfect. I'm glad you two hit it off." Turning to look at Ryoga again, Nabiki continued, "Ryoga, if you agree to work with me on this business proposition, I would really like Hiro to work with you. Would that be okay?"

Ryoga looked confused, "Business proposition? I like Hiro, and I wouldn't mind working with him… but I think you have the wrong guy to be making any business propositions to."

Hiro looked surprised at the news as well. From the time he spent with Ryoga, he didn't seem the business type… however… this is the legendary Nabiki Tendo. She always seems to know exactly what she's doing.

Nabiki grinned and responded with, "You haven't even heard my proposition yet. You are the perfect fit for it." Nabiki grabbed her tablet and clicked and swiped it a few times. After a moment, she turned it towards Ryoga and Hiro and a video was playing. They both watched the video intently, hoping that Nabiki's plan would reveal itself… but it just seemed to be a random YouTube video. It had an attractive blonde girl talking to the camera operator as well as the audience. They were talking about the temple they were in front of in Hiroshima. The whole video was in English, and not terrible well done. When the video was done, Hiro and Ryoga looked up at Nabiki.

Nabiki noticed that the two men still seemed lost. "YouTube celebrities are growing in popularity rapidly. Especially in America. Many cover topics such as gaming or costumes. There are many niche markets in creating YouTube content, and if you get big enough, there's lots of money to be made. Control over a popular brand as well as advertising and brand integration is a powerful tool."

Hiro had a look of realization come across his face while Ryoga was still lost. He had learned what YouTube was, but didn't know there were YouTube celebrities. He was also lost in all of the business talk.

Nabiki looked at Ryoga's confused face a pointed right at him. "I want you to be my YouTube celebrity."

Ryoga pointed at himself, "Me?"

"Yes, you. I have the perfect idea for a series that only you can really do. You're pretty proficient in English, yes?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty fluent. I don't know too many complicated words but I can get around most conversations just fine." Ryoga wasn't sure why that was relevant.

Nabiki nodded and continued, "Most of the biggest internet celebrities, even if they are from non-English speaking countries all make their videos in English. It seems to reach the widest audience that way. It's commonly being taught in Japanese schools as well as schools in other countries as well. I'll need you to make your videos in English, though being able to translate from Japanese will be an important asset as well."

Ryoga seemed to understand where they were going with the language thing… "You still haven't said what my videos will be about?"

Hiro spoke up on this one. "It's travel isn't it?"

Nabiki gave Hiro a wide smile. "Very good Hiro. That's exactly what I want Ryoga's channel to be about."

Ryoga looked shocked. "Travel?! I'm the last person you want to talk about travel! I can't find anything."

Nabiki shook her head. "I don't need you to tell people to go to specific places… I want you to tell them about where you are. I gave you the phone you have because it has one of the best cell phone cameras on the market at the moment. It can shoot 4k video and is a fairly easy to use model for those unfamiliar with technology as a whole. What I want is for you to shoot video of the different towns you visit. Show people how to enjoy and appreciate places that don't always get appreciated. These aren't normal tourist stops… so your videos will stand out more because they're about places no one has ever visited."

Hiro was beaming at Nabiki… his admiration for her genius only raising.

Ryoga was looking thoughtful. "I guess that's true… I do find some nice towns that could use a little more tourism…"

"That's the spirit!" Nabiki seemed extra confident at Ryoga's statement.

Ryoga had more questions though… "What happens if I do end up in a normal tourist spot? Or I end up going to the same towns over and over again?"

Nabiki responded quickly having thought of everything he could ask, "If you end up in a normal tourist spot or town, you can still talk about it. I'm sure you have unique insights to them and people will still listen. If you get stuck going to the same places, I can always help you find somewhere new. Your phone has GPS and I pay the bill, so I can always see where you are as long as you get signal. I can send someone to pick you up, and fly you somewhere else for a while. If I drop you off somewhere in America or Europe, I'm sure you'll get a lot of really good footage of cool places."

Ryoga didn't seem to have anything else to counter what she just said. Hiro however had a question of his own…

"Who will edit the footage, and upload the videos to his channel?"

Nabiki smirked, "Why, you will. I'm going to assign you full-time to the Roamin' Ryoga project. You will work with my graphics team to design a logo and I can easily get a video editing course for you to take while Ryoga films his first batch of footage. You will be working from your own office in this building, helping Ryoga remotely in any way he needs. I will give you and Ryoga a modest expense account to get you guys started, and you will be in charge of making sure that Ryoga not only gets what he needs, but that he doesn't over-spend while we're still building this. If the footage doesn't come out good, you will need to talk him through getting better footage, if he's acting stiff, you'll have to talk him through acting more naturally. You are in charge of helping me make this new project a success."

Hiro was star-struck. He was only 22 and already THE Ms. Nabiki Tendo put him in charge of an entire project. He will be getting HIS OWN office in her building.

Ryoga still looked pensive. "So… what do I need to do now?"

Nabiki sat back in her chair, "You have a pretty easy way to get started, all you really need to do is wander around the way you usually do. When you think you're somewhere interesting, set up you camera to record with the tripod, stand in front of it and start talking about where you are. You can even take footage yourself of the town without the tripod. If there's any fun activities or interesting people, you can talk to them or do whatever it is their town does. Enjoy the places you go, without worrying about where you're going next. After you get all the footage, make sure to upload it to the dropbox app we put on your phone, and Hiro will take care of it from there."

Ryoga wasn't sure how to feel. He always spend all his time worrying about where he was going. How long until he found what he was looking for… Now she says to not worry about it? Just enjoy where he is? He wasn't sure if he was up to this… but he had to give it his best shot… if only to thank Nabiki for all she did for him… and to help Hiro keep a job that was clearly very important to him. He looked right into Nabiki's eyes and said, "I'll do it."

"Excellent. Glad to have you on board." Nabiki stood up from her chair and extended her hand for a handshake. Ryoga stumbled a moment but also rose from his chair to shake her hand. She then extended her hand to Hiro, whose face flushed a deep red as he also stumbled to get up from his chair. They shook hands as well and Nabiki pressed a button on the side of the table. "Mr. Nakamura? Can you please escort Mr. Hibiki out of the building in a friendly manner? I don't want him getting lost on the way out."

"Thanks Nabiki." Ryoga looked a little sheepish at needing an escort out of the building.

"What are business partners for?" Nabiki gave Ryoga a sly smile. Looking at Hiro, she said, "You two should say your good byes now, it'll be all digital communication for a while. After Mr. Nakamura picks up Ryoga, I want to show you your new office, and introduce you to the graphics team you'll be working with."

Hiro suppressed his giddiness to the best of his ability and turned towards Ryoga. "I guess this is goodbye for now."

Ryoga looked at Hiro and smiled, "I guess it is… but with my new phone… it doesn't have to be goodbye for long… I'll call you if I ever need anything."

Hiro gave a smirk, "Call? How old are you? You should text me."

Both men laughed at the joke and the large man that escorted them in arrived.

Mr. Nakamura's voice was as deep as ever, "I'm here to escort Mr. Hibiki."

Ryoga raised his hand lazily, "Right here. Let me just grab by bag." Ryoga put his phone back into its pouch and hoisted his bag onto his shoulders. "Bye Hiro, bye Nabiki… thanks again- to both of you." With that, Ryoga followed Mr. Nakamura out of the building.

A/N- It took me 6 chapters to get to the main plot point of this story. I'm surprised with myself… while also being not surprised at all. I know some of you had been guessing at what Nabiki had in mind for Ryoga… and I don't think any of you saw this coming. At least… not at the point I'm writing this. You may have deciphered it by the time I upload this one. =P


	7. Chapter 7

Roamin' Ryoga – Chapter 7

I've been re-watching Ranma ½ with a friend of mine and we've been talking about fanfictions we read back in the day. We used to read A LOT of Ranma ½ fanfiction. So, while at work, this idea came to me. I hope I can do it justice.

I don't own Ranma 1/2, or any other properties, songs, movies, or people mentioned in this story. Any resemblance to real people, or events are entirely coincidental.

It had been a week since Ryoga left Nabiki's office. While trying to find somewhere to eat lunch… Ryoga already found himself miles from Tokyo. This seemed to suit him just fine. Although he was still miles away from any of his friends… he never felt closer. Every day after he eats his lunch… he grabs his phone and checks up on his friends using Twitter and Facebook. Seeing everyone's updates and chatting with them about their lives had brought a happiness to Ryoga that he wasn't sure was even possible.

Hiking along a trail, Ryoga came out of the forest he had been traveling and found a small town. It was one of the ones he helped with their farming when he came through town. He continued into town, thinking that this was the perfect place to start filming for Nabiki and Hiro.

As he approached, some of the villagers noticed Ryoga walking into town and waved at him. They were always happy to see their favorite wandering traveler.

Ryoga smiled and waved back. It was still the middle of summer, so there was very little farming work to do.

An older gentleman walked over to meet Ryoga on his way into town. He was dressed comfortably but you could see that he was very strong. He put his hand out to shake hands with Ryoga and they clasped their hands together firmly. "It's been a while Hibiki."

"Yeah, sorry I missed the last harvest Mr. Hikamori." Ryoga was a touch sheepish as they finished their handshake.

The two men started walking together into the village, villagers waving at them as they passed, the two men waving back. "Don't worry about it. We appreciate the help when you are here, but that doesn't mean we can't harvest our own daikon." The two men had a short laugh as they approached an old house and went inside. As they took off their shoes, Mr. Hikamori spoke, "So, just passing through again? I know the kids in town would love to see their favorite wandering uncle."

As they entered the main room of Mr. Hikamori's house, Ryoga responded while sitting down at the table, "Actually, I have business here today. I could use some help too, if you don't mind."

Mr. Hikamori's smile broadened. "Of course, you're practically family! What do you need?"

Before Ryoga could respond, an older woman entered the room. "Oh! Mr. Hibiki! I'm glad to see you in town. Would you like some tea?"

Ryoga turned to her, "Thank you Mrs. Hikamori, I would love some tea."

The woman nodded and went off to the kitchen to make some tea for the three of them.

Turning back to Mr. Hikamori, Ryoga pulled out his phone. "Well, I'm actually supposed to be making a travel show. I film towns I visit, people I meet, and send everything to my editor who will make it into a show. I would love to get some help talking about Rusutsu."

"Absolutely! I'd love to help you out. We don't get too many visitors here though… are you sure you don't want to go into more mainland Hokkaido?" Mr. Hikamori looked at Ryoga quizzically.

Ryoga shook his head. "No, I want to show places people haven't been too. Nice places to visit they may not know is out there."

Right then, Mrs. Hikomori came back in with the tea and served a cup to each gentleman.

Taking a sip of his tea, Mr. Hikamori continued, "I guess even villages like ours could use a little tourism."

Ryoga nodded and drank his tea as well. He hadn't had green tea this good in ages…

Mrs. Hikamori spoke up, "What do you need help with exactly?"

Ryoga thought about it for a moment. Putting down his teacup, he responded, "I need to know where's a good place to film myself talking about the village, maybe talk to some villagers such as yourselves… Maybe mention what you guys do for fun around here. I know there's no farm-work in the summer, so you guys have to do something for fun around here."

Mr. Hikamori looked deep in thought. "Well, many of the men tend to leave town to go fishing in the summer. They come back when it's time to plant the next batch of crops. They need to keep working to keep supporting their families. The women tend to stay behind and take care of the children and watch the homes. With school being out for four weeks, the kids usually play outside a lot. Though, I have seen more recently that many kids are starting to spend all their time indoors on the internet and playing those video games." Mr. Hikamori seemed a little grumpy at that last thought. "The older ladies in town usually like to make things. Some weave or sew, some make pottery, and some whittle wooden figures… They used to teach the younger ladies in town the same skills… but this current generation just doesn't care about hand crafted goods anymore."

Ryoga turned to Mrs. Hikamori, "Do you make anything Mrs. Hikamori?"

She blushed slightly. "I actually make kimonos in my spare time. For the girls of the village. Mostly for special occasions and festivals." She poured more tea into each of their cups.

Ryoga drank his tea- deep in thought. The room had gotten quiet, the only noises emanating from outside and the occasional sip of tea.

"I think I'll take a day to see everyone and think about what I want to film. We can always start tomorrow. Do you mind if I stay here with you again tonight?"

His broad smile returned to Mr. Hikamori as he responded, "Of course! You're like family to us and always welcome to stay here. I'll even keep an eye on you as you see everyone in the village so you don't accidentally wander off."

It was Ryoga's turn to smile as he responded with a quick, "Thanks."

About half an hour after they finished their tea, Ryoga and Mr. Hikamori were walking to a park nearby. As they got close, one of the children spotted Ryoga and shouted, "RYOGA'S BACK!"

All the other children in the park looked up from what they were doing and about ten children all ran towards Ryoga. He held a strong stance, in preparation of what was to come. In moments, he had about five or six children trying to tackle him to the ground with fierce hugs. The others were close by, but didn't want to get into the kerfuffle. The children ranged from about seven to twelve in age.

"Uncle Ryoga, we missed you!" A girl of about eight was hugging one of his legs.

With a slight chuckle and a pat on the girl's head, Ryoga responded, "I missed you kids too." He started to hug the ones attached to him one by one, where they would then let go and let the other children get their hugs in too. While this was going on, a few teens had walked up with smiles on their faces.

One of the older boys, about seventeen in age, put his hand out for a handshake, "It's nice to see you back in town."

Ryoga shook the boy's hand. "Nice to see you too Daisuke. You've grown a lot since the last time I was here."

Daisuke let out a laugh, "Everyone grows a lot between visits for you." Some of the surrounding youth laughed with Daisuke and Ryoga's cheeks tinged a little pink.

"He he… yeah. I'm surprised you aren't out fishing with the other adults." Ryoga started walking into the park so he could sit at a bench while all the smaller kids followed him attentively.

Daisuke sat down on the bench Ryoga was sitting down at. "I would be, but I have a lot of studying to do to prepare for college entrance exams. I'm hoping to go somewhere in Tokyo."

Ryoga looked at Daisuke, pointedly ignoring the small children tugging on him to play with them, "You're gonna leave and go to the big city?"

Daisuke nodded and smiled at Ryoga, "And it's all thanks to you. You go to so many places, you always told such great stories from not only all over Japan but from all over the world! You made me think there's more to life than farming Daikon and Potatoes. I can do so much more than what I was born into!"

Ryoga saw the fire and passion in Daisuke's eyes. He never knew it… but he just realized that he had changed someone's life. His travels and his stories meant something to someone. 'Maybe… Nabiki has a point. Maybe this can be something important.' Ryoga gave a big smile and turned to the children pulling at him to play. "Alright! I'll come play with you guys!"

All the children cheer and out of the corner of his eye, Ryoga saw Mr. Hikamori shake his head off to the side. Ryoga was just glad he was still keeping an eye on him.

In a matter of moments, the children were running around, playing some kind of tag with Ryoga and there was much laughing and squealing. Even some of the teens gave in and jumped into the game.

Some time later everyone was exhausted. A few of the kids had taken some of Ryoga's headbands and were wearing them with pride. Ryoga was sitting with one of the children in his lap and all the other kids were sitting around him, listening to some of his recent adventures. They loved his stories. Shortly however, the sounds of some voices could be heard in the distance. The children were being called in for lunch.

Most of the children were sad that they didn't get to hear the rest of the story right now… but some were very hungry and went straight to lunch. There was a general collective, "Awwwww…"

"Hey, you have to eat lunch. If you get your strength back, you can play more later!" Ryoga was helping some of the kids up from the ground.

One of the children with a headband jumped in with, "If we get strength from eating lunch then maybe someday we'll be strong enough to fight off a bear like you did!" He mimed taking down a bear.

With a chuckle, Ryoga scooted the kid back to his home, "Yeah… if you train hard and eat right, even you can learn how to take down a bear.

Mr. Hikamori walked up to Ryoga, who was scooting off the last of the kids to go home for lunch. "You are so good with kids. You ever thought of having some of your own?"

A grim look washed over Ryoga's smile. He would love to have kids of his own… but that was never a possibility…

Shaking it off to keep up face in front of someone he considered a friend, Ryoga looked at Mr. Hikamori and responded with, "I just haven't found the right girl yet, sir."

Mr. Hikamori placed one of his large hands on Ryoga's shoulder. "You'll find her. You'll find her someday. Speaking of which…" They had started walking back to the Hikamori house for lunch but Mr. Hikamori stopped for a moment. "My daughter should be coming back into town tomorrow. She just finished getting her nursing degree. She's always liked you…"

Ryoga started blushing furiously. "Mr... mr… Mr. Hikamori! You've been trying to get me to date your daughter for five years now! I told you she's too young for me."

They started walking again and Mr. Hikamori shrugged, "She's 25 now. Surely that's not too young for a strapping young man as yourself."

"That's a ten year difference between us. I've known her since she was twelve! That's a little creepy." Ryoga was sputtering a little.

Mr. Hikamori just kept on walking back to the house. "Either way, she'll still be happy to see you."

Ryoga's face was red from the short conversation. They were nearly back to the Hikamori house.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Ryoga and Mr. Hikamori met with and chatted with the various people of Rusutsu. After dinner, Ryoga was escorted to one of the spare bedrooms for the night.

While settling down for the night, Ryoga remembered that he forgot to check his phone all day. He was enjoying his time in the village so much, it hadn't occurred to him.

Pulling up the home screen, there didn't seem to be any missed calls, texts, or e-mails. The battery however, was looking a little low. Digging around his backpack, Ryoga found a charging cable and plug. He looked around, and saw an outlet on the wall behind a desk. No longer able to reach the bed, Ryoga settled into the desk chair to check his Facebook.

Opening up the app, he saw what seemed to be common for his feed. Pictures of his friend's kids and links to news articles. Not too much going on in Ryoga's circle of friends… But there seemed to be something new. There was a friend request pending.

'Who would…' Ryoga thought for a moment before just clicking on the request to see who it was.

It was Ukyo Kuonji.

Ryoga tensed. He hadn't spoken to her since… the incident… Was everything really okay?

'Should I accept it? Has she gotten over it? Maybe I should think about it before answering… After all, I don't want to mislead her again.' Ryoga decided that was enough internet for the night and placed his phone on the desk. It could charge over-night and be ready to do some recording in the morning.

Ryoga laid down in the bed and tried to get to sleep. It wasn't a very restful sleep…

A/N - Sorry it's late! My buffer ran out and I was having trouble writing this one. I was never happy with how I was phrasing things. Since my buffer is gone, updates may be a little more sporadic, but I have a basic outline of the story. Points I want to hit, how it's gonna end… but I need to figure out what order everything will go in and how long until we reach the end. Thank you for all your kind words, and I hope I can do the rest of this story justice.


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